BY OKEY NDIRIBE
ABUJA —  THE Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is set to introduce a code of conduct for political parties in the country.

This was disclosed by the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, while responding to the remarks of the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Andrew Lloyd, who led a delegation to the electoral commission yesterday.

Said he: “The Code of conduct which would be in place before the April general elections is expected to serve as a guide to regulate the activities of political parties before and during the general elections.”

The INEC boss further stated that final figures for the recently concluded  voters’ registration would be available today, adding that the nation had so far recorded 65.2 million voters.

According to him, “the commission will embark on continuous registration of voters after the April poll.

He said: “The commission  is currently involved in the verification of the voters register and the list of candidates submitted for the April poll by the various political parties in the country.”

He also assured the British delegation and Nigerians in general that the commission was fully mobilised for the forth-coming election, noting that INEC needed technical support from the DFID and other international bodies to accomplish its objective of organising the best election in the world.

He thanked the DFID and the British government for its past support to the commission.
He further stated that INEC had established an inter-agency security consultative committee for the purpose of ensuring a hitch-free poll in the country adding that this had been extended to all the states of the federation.

In his comments at the event, Lloyd, who was accompanied by the British Minister for Africa, Mr Henry Bellingham, said Britain wanted to intensify its bilateral relations with Nigeria adding this could only be possible if good governance is entrenched in the country. He also observed that good governance could only be in place when the votes of Nigerians count.

In a related development, the Director of Public Affairs of INEC, Mr Emmanuel Umenger, has denied that the commission had received a copy of the petition of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, former Vice-President, against the emergence of President Goodluck Jonathan as the presidential candidate of the PDP.

Commenting on the controversy surrounding the emergence of Mohammed Abacha, son of former military ruler as governorship candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, for the April poll in Kano, he stated that INEC had no power to decide who becomes the candidate of a political party in any election held in the country.